Blooming into love
by cheemander
Summary: They'll grow up together, face pain and hard times together, and even bond together. But can they fall in love together, before one loses her chance forever? Shizuru X Natsuki


"But, mom! I don't want to go meet the neighbors!" 7 year old Natsuki Kuga protested.

Saeko shook her head. "Natsuki-chan! They have a nice daughter and it would be nice if you had a female playmate."

Natsuki stubbornly crossed her arms. She didn't want a female friend, nor did she care that there was a chance for her to have one. Her mother wanted her to have more friends in general, and the new neighbors were the perfect chance for that to happen.

Saeko silently shook her head and picked Natsuki up and tossed her over the shoulder. Her daughter started flailing and screaming.

"MOM! PUT ME DOWN! I'LL START CRYING!" Saeko snorted at this remark.

"Go ahead kid." She ignored her daughter's fake crying and brought her over to the house next door with the moving van in front of it.

She was greeted by a tall man in a suit and another tawny haired woman.

"Ah, hello," Saeko said clapping a hand over Natsuki's mouth. "I'm Saeko Kuga, and this is my daughter Natsuki…she seems to be having a fit."

The woman giggled slightly. "I noticed. Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Hikari Fujino, and this is my husband Kaoru." The man bowed politely.

"Ah, such lovely accents. From Kyoto I presume?"

Hikari nodded. "Yes. And, we have a daughter about Natsuki's age. Would you like to meet her Natsuki-chan?" She said after Saeko set Natsuki down. Natsuki quickly shook her heads with her arms crossed firmly. Saeko gave her one of her looks, and Natsuki shook her head slowly, and angrily.

Kaoru left the room for a moment and brought out a small girl holding his hand. She had straw colored hair like her parents, and piercing ruby eyes. She adorned a bright smile on her face.

"Natsuki, this is Shizuru." He gently pushed her towards Natsuki. Natsuki carefully inspected this new girl.

"Ara, hello Natsuki-chan, my name is Shizuru." Natsuki frowned.

"Leave me alone." Saeko lightly hit her child on the back of her head.

"Ow, Mom!" Natsuki said rubbing the back of her head.

"Be polite!" Saeko said angrily.

Natsuki sighed and forced a smile at Shizuru.

Shizuru stepped forward and hugged Natsuki, like she did with most new friends.

Natsuki turned bright red and started flailing.

**Aw! This will be the start of a beautiful friendship with Natsuki and me!**

XXXXXXX

Natsuki grumbled as she sat on her front steps. Her mother had banished her outside while she was cleaning, having Natsuki inside would reverse the effect of trying to clean.

**Mom doesn't let me inside even to get my toys…I have nothing to do.**

She felt her anger levels rise as the new neighbor girl sat next to her.

**What was her name? Oh…Shizuma?**

"Shizuma" giggled. "My name is _Shi-zu-ru_."

Natsuki huffed. "Fine…what do you want?"

Shizuru shrugged. "I was bored, and I wanted to see how my new friend was doing."

Natsuki cringed at the girl's words. "I'm NOT your friend."

The other girl smiled softly. She loved how Natsuki didn't want to be her friend, but the blush on her face told a different story.

Natsuki had raven hair that went to her shoulders and lovely green eyes. Shizuru felt jealous. People told her she was cute, but Natsuki was just plain adorable. Shizuru was taken away from her thoughts as she heard a familiar sound. The ice cream truck song.

She stood up. "Natsuki, would you like to go get ice cream with me?"

Natsuki reluctantly nodded and stood up and followed Shizuru to the swarm of kids.

The crowd had finally died down when the pair made their way to the truck.

Natsuki furrowed her brow as the man asked Shizuru what she wanted. She tugged on Shizuru's arm.

"His Japanese is weird…" Shizuru nodded. She looked up at the man.

"Sir, are you from Japan?" The man shook his head.

"America. My Japanese isn't that great yet…" His broken Japanese frustrated Natsuki.

"By the way, I'm Rick." He said with a smile. He was young, early twenties, black hair, and tanned skin.

Shizuru nodded and took her ice cream cone.

Natsuki stepped up and asked for hers, and got it a few moments later. Rick smiled at her, and said goodbye to both.

Natsuki shuddered. "I think that guy is a pedo."

Shizuru quirked her eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Mom says a pedo is when an old person is in love with a little kid." Natsuki said matter of factly.

The other girl giggled. "You think he's in love with you?"

The Kuga shook her head. "I think he's in love with YOU."

Shizuru frowned, but shrugged it off. They went and sat on the steps to Natsuki's house.

"So, Natsuki? How old are you?"

"5. I turn 8 August 15th."

"Oh, I turned 8 December 19th."

Natsuki grimaced at the thought of being younger.

"How come you moved here from Kyoto?"

"Mother and Father thought it would be a nice change of pace to live somewhere with not a lot of commotion." Natsuki looked down. She was actually talking to this girl. Could it be because she wanted to be friends with her?

"Shizuru, do you really want to be my friend?"

The older girl gave her a curious look. "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"Most people think I'm what mom calls rambunctious…or a little mean. You're not either."

Shizuru shrugged. "I wouldn't want to be friends with a person who was exactly like me. That would be boring."

And then it happened, Natsuki felt herself smile. The first genuine smile in a long time that hadn't come from Mayo or her bicycle. She looked around.

"Shizuru, make a promise to me."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Don't tell anyone we're friends…It might ruin my rep'."

Shizuru giggled. Natsuki had a reputation at 7? She must have been pretty well known.

"Ara, Natsuki. I promise not to tell anyone." Not that she knew anyone else right now anyway…

XXXXXXX

"Yes, my Natsuki is a bit of a wild child sometimes." Saeko said with a laugh.

Hikari shook her head. "I can't say the same about Shizuru. Sometimes I wish she was a bit more…energetic towards meeting others sometimes though."

Their heads turned as they heard the door quickly close and shut.

"Mother! Mother!" Little Shizuru came running up to her mother.

Hikari smiled. "Shizuru, what is it?"

Shizuru had a huge grin on her face.

"Guess what? I have found a friend in Natsuki! She's my best friend, but don't tell her that, and don't tell her I told you!" Hikari chuckled and patted Shizuru on her head.

"Alright, I won't." Shizuru ran up to her room.

Saeko smiled softly and sighed. "But then again, every now and then, she has a sweet side. And I think she showed that to Shizuru today."


End file.
